一边

[rockytriton]

I'm not quite sure if this means something else than I think it does.. I know that it can mean "side" as in "on the side of something", but I see it in a rosetta stone lesson as something like: 他一边弹钢琴， 一边独唱

I'm not quite sure what it means here, does it mean something like "is also doing"? If so, would you ever do this for more than two things or is it just for doing to separate things?

Thanks

[nipponman]

Basically you're right. I asked a question like this a while back and the expression means "to do simultaeneously". so 他一边弹钢琴， 一边独唱

would be "he plays the piano while singing a solo." As for more than 2 things, I'm not sure, but I do think you should be able to use it for more than two situations.

[HashiriKata]

"一边... 一边..." is best translated as : do (A) while doing (B):he sings while playing the piano.

No, you don't use this kind of structure for more than 2 things at a time.

[semantic nuance]

Hi,

I beg to differ, HashiriKata. You can say :他ㄧ邊喝啤酒, ㄧ邊唸中文, 還一邊看電視. (He's drinking beers, and studying Chinese, and watching TV.) 'ㄧ邊', as nipponman said, means "to do [things]simultaeneously", it is not necessarily limited to do two things only. It really depends on one's ability to do as many things simultaeneously as he can.

Hope it helps!

[HashiriKata]

Thanks semantic nuance! You're very likely to be right but within my limited ability, I could at the time of writing only think of being able to do at most 2 things at a time .

[nipponman]

Also, you can remove the ㄧ with little to no change in meaning.

[rockytriton]

thanks for the info everyone, one more question on this subject, I've also seen the following used in the same way "一手拿" I guess that would mean, he is holding x and holding y?

[semantic nuance]

Yes, you're right, rockytriton.

you can say 他ㄧ手拿著報紙, ㄧ手拿著早點. (He's holding the newpaper in one hand, and holding his breakfast in the other.) It's impossible for you to carry or hold things by the third hand, unless you have one. Interestingly, there's an expression (第)三隻手(the third hand or 扒手(pa2shou3)--meaning pickpocket.

Hope it helps!